Political Aspects of Modernisation

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the role of government and politics in the modernisation process in general, and in Southern Africa in particular. As such, it focuses on the capacity of different political systems to absorb technological change and promote economic development. But as modernisation also embraces political development, this paper touches on the questions of nation-building and national integration, and the role of political parties and political élites in the modernisation process. The analysis itself of the political systems of Southern Africa is performed in terms of Apter’s typology of developmental political systems. The paper concludes with a cursory examination of the political configurations of Southern African regionalism and the relevance of this factor in the modernisation process.

Modernisation is a special kind of hope. Embodied within it are all the past revolutions of history and all the supreme human desires. The modernisation revolution is epic in its scale and moral in its significance. Its consequences may be frightening. Any goal that is so desperately desired creates political power, and this force may not always be used wisely or well. Whatever direction it may take, the struggle to modernise is what has given meaning to our generation. It tests our cherished institutions and our beliefs. It puts our country in the marketplace of ideas and ideologies. So compelling a force has it become that we are forced to ask new questions of our own institutions. Each country, whether modernised or modernising, stands in both judgement and fear of the results. Our own society is no exception.

David E. Apter, The Politics of Modernisation